Types of Encelia – Desert, Coast, or Acton Brittlebush

Choose desert brittlebush, coast sunflower, or Acton brittlebush first.

Choose desert brittlebush, coast sunflower, or Acton brittlebush first

The first choice is the site you have. Desert brittlebush is the silvery dry-mound shrub. Coast sunflower is the green coastal shrub, and Acton brittlebush is the inland kind. If the tag only says Encelia, look at whether the leaves are woolly white or green, then pick that kind. [1] [2]

Browse by kind

Match the leaf color and the site, then pick that kind. A coast sunflower will not give you a silvery desert mound, and desert brittlebush will not fill a cool coastal bluff the same way. Read the tag for the habitat, then buy that kind. Care for the plant you already have on How to Grow Brittlebush. [3] [4]

Brittlebush

brittlebush is the silvery desert shrub with woolly leaves and yellow daisy heads on branched stalks above the foliage. Tags may say incienso or goldhills. Buy this group for a dry inland mound, not for a green coastal slope. It is Encelia farinosa, not a garden sunflower.

Coast sunflower

coast sunflower is a green coastal shrub for bluffs and sage scrub, woody mainly at the base. Tags may say California brittlebush or bush sunflower. The leaves stay greener than desert brittlebush, and each stalk usually holds one head. Buy it for a coastal slope, not for a tall seed sunflower.

Acton brittlebush

Acton brittlebush is the inland kind, with many slender branches from the base, silvery-green leaves, and solitary yellow heads. Tags may say Acton encelia. Buy it for inland heat, not as the woolly desert mound and not as coast sunflower.

If you want silvery desert leaves, buy brittlebush — coast sunflower is grown for a green coastal slope.